In the open Senate seat race in Missouri, Rep. Roy Blunt's (R) lead over Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D) in a new Rasmussen poll remains about the same from last month. Both candidates are favorites to win their parties' nominations Aug. 3.

Blunt 49 (nc vs. last poll, 1/21)
Carnahan 42 (-1)
Und 6

Blunt leads by 1.0 point in the RCP Average.

President Obama's approval rating in the state is down to 40%, while Gov. Jay Nixon (D) is at 56%.

Three new Senate polls from Rasmussen in North Dakota, Missouri and New Hampshire show Republicans leading most matchups.

Missouri (500 LVs, 2/10, MoE +/- 4.5%)
Blunt (R) 49 (unch vs. last poll, 1/19)
Carnahan (D) 42 (-1)
Und 6 (+1)

North Dakota (500 LVs, 2/9-10, MoE +/- 4.5%)
Hoeven (R) 71 -- Potter (D) 17 -- Und 8
Hoeven (R) 65 -- Heitkamp (D) 29 -- Und 5

New Hampshire (500 LVs, 2/10, MoE +/- 4.5%)
Ayotte (R) 46 (-3 vs. last poll, 1/12)
Hodes (D) 39 (-1)
Und 13 (+5)

Binnie (R) 42 (+5)
Hodes (D) 41 (-2)
Und 13 (-2)

Hodes (D) 44 (-1)
Lamontagne (R) 38 (unch)
Und 13 (+2)

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki has told Nevada Republicans he will seek re-election instead of running for the U.S. Senate. His decision leaves the party with what is considered a weak field, including former state Sen. Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian, son of the former UNLV hoops coach.

The GOP sources said Krolicki called his potential Republican opponents to tell them directly that he had decided against a Senate run.

"He decided that it would dilute the Republican field and make it harder to beat Harry Reid," one of the GOP sources said, referring to the Democratic Senate majority leader.

Though Republicans won't get their top recruit, polls have still shown that every remaining Republican leads Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

UPDATE: The DSCC offers this take on the news:

“Washington Republicans recruited an indicted lieutenant governor because the current crop of candidates includes Sue Lowden who still wants to campaign with John Ensign, Danny Tarkanian who supports dumping nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, and Sharron Angle who wants to let insurance companies refuse to cover mammograms without paying a higher premium.

“With Washington Republicans struggling to find a candidate viable in Nevada, maybe they should see if Dan Coats can move there and give it a try.”

The exchange between Major Garrett of Fox News and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Wall Street bonuses at today's briefing:

Q In a rare alignment, MoveOn.org, Paul Krugman and Bill Kristol all agreed the President was wrong when he said he does not begrudge Wall Street bonuses.

MR. GIBBS: The President didn't say that, Major.

Q I'm saying what they're saying he said. He said "success" -- "I don't begrudge success, I don't begrudge --

MR. GIBBS: Let's not play hypothetical.

Q All right. He said, "I don't begrudge their success, I don't begrudge their wealth."

MR. GIBBS: No, no, no, no, no. “I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people's success or wealth.”

Q Well, read the question, too, because the question was about -- the question was about the bonuses.

MR. GIBBS: No, no, I read the questions. You and I talked about this like four times the other --

Q I know, but the question was about --

MR. GIBBS: I understand. I understand the question was about bonuses. The question -- and the President on five different occasions -- just as I emailed you yesterday, causing you to reexamine what you'd written based off of the interview -- that the President was talking in that sentence, as he's done many times, about -- he does not believe the federal government should be setting salaries for business in America. He still believes that.

Q Does he still remain comfortable with the analogy he made with Major League Baseball players many have pointed out -- yes, Major League Baseball players make a lot of money -- no, many of them will make the World Series, but none of them had anything to do with the financial crisis or bad --

MR. GIBBS: Well, I don't think the President would argue that not many baseball players had anything to do with the financial crisis. I don't think that's -- the point he was trying to make was that there are obscene and shocking salaries, and obscene and shocking compensation that don't match what happens with your performance

Q Does Blankfein and Dimon count

MR. GIBBS: Hold on, hold on, let me -- can I just -- let me finish my answer -- that the President has said that there ought to be -- these ought to be based on performance, not on risk-taking, okay?

Q And some of these new ones are.

MR. GIBBS: No, that -- right, in the sense that yes, they're in stock rather than in --

Q Long-term health.

MR. GIBBS: There should be a say on pay. Shareholders ought to be able to weigh in on this. And he said that salaries like you were talking about with baseball and these bonuses are extraordinary and shocking.

Q Blankfein and Dimon -- are those obscene bonuses, Blankfein's and Dimon's?

MR. GIBBS: The President has spoken repeatedly on these bonuses, and finds them, as he did in here, extraordinary and shocking.

Q Has he been asked specifically about Blankfein and Dimon?

MR. GIBBS: And he said extraordinary and shocking, specifically.

Q Are they obscene, are they an offense, are they a violation of our moral principles?

MR. GIBBS: The President doesn't have any different view on bonuses yesterday than he had 10 days ago or 10 months ago.

Here's a statement from Doug Band, the former president's top aide.

"Today President Bill Clinton was admitted to the Columbia Campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital after feeling discomfort in his chest. Following a visit to his cardiologist, he underwent a procedure to place two stents in one of his coronary arteries. President Clinton is in good spirits, and will continue to focus on the work of his Foundation and Haiti's relief and long-term recovery efforts. In 2004, President Clinton underwent a successful quadruple bypass operation to free four blocked arteries."

That's a quote from Glenn Beck's radio program in the immediate aftermath of Beck's interview with Debra Medina. Mike Memoli has all the gory deets.

Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio (R) raised more than $860,000 in a 10-day "money bomb," his campaign announced today. The total is nearly half what he raised in the last three months of 2009, when he took in $1.75 million.

“I'm encouraged by the support we've received this month from people who believe a return to limited government is what will keep America free and prosperous,” said Rubio. “We are pleased with our progress, but also realize we have a long way to go to compete with one of the most prolific fundraisers in political history."

The fundraising push was set up by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, Rubio's first congressional supporter, through his Senate Conservatives Fund. The total helps Rubio cut into the $5.5 million lead in cash-on-hand his GOP primary opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist, held at the beginning of the year.

A new Indiana Senate poll from Research 2000 for Daily Kos finds Sen. Evan Bayh (D) with a sizable advantage over former Sen. Dan Coats (R) as the latter considers entering the race.

General Election Matchups (600 LVs, 2/8-10, MoE +/- 4%)
Bayh 55 -- Coats 35 -- Und 10
Bayh 53 -- Hostettler 37 - Und 10

Against Coats, Bayh actually has an even greater lead among independent voters -- 64 to 24 -- and even gets 26 percent of the Republican vote. Former Rep. John Hostettler does marginally better here; a Rasmussen survey showed him much closer to Bayh.

Since Coats announced he was considering the race, Democrats have unloaded on him over his Washington ties, and circulated this video featuring him talking about potentially taking up residence in North Carolina. This local news report shows the work Coats has ahead of him as he reintroduces himself to Hoosier voters.

Favorable Ratings
Bayh 61 / 33
Coats 38 / 34
Hostettler 40 / 33

Gov. Daniels 56 / 34
Sen. Lugar 64 / 29
Pres. Obama 46 / 49

Rasmussen today released a slew of potential matchups in the wide-open Michigan gubernatorial race:

Bouchard (R) 42 -- Smith (D) 29 -- Und 20
Hoekstra (R) 44 -- Smith (D) 28 -- Und 20
Cox (R) 45 -- Smith (D) 30 -- Und 18

Bouchard (R) 40 -- Dillon (D) 32 -- Und 18
Hoekstra (R) 41 -- Dillon (D) 34 -- Und 15
Dillon (D) 36 -- Cox (R) 35 -- Und 17

Bouchard (R) 40 -- Bernero (D) 31 -- Und 20
Hoekstra (R) 43 -- Bernero (D) 30 -- Und 19
Cox (R) 40 -- Bernero (D) 34 -- Und 17

Republicans lead in eight of the nine matchups, though four are single-digit races. That could give Democrats a glimmer of hope given how tough the political climate is in the state, and the fact that their top two potential candidates -- Lt. Gov. John Cherry and Denise Ilitch, decided not to run.

Ilitch, who had been wooed by national Democrats to the point of a conversation with President Obama, announced yesterday she would not run. The Rasmussen survey had included her as a candidate, but she fared no better than the remaining three Democrats. Her deep pockets and outsider status had been thought of as good selling points for the party, though.

The survey was conducted February 9 among 500 likely voters, with a margin of error of +/- 4.5%.

Roll Call reports:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is pinning the blame on Republicans for a lack of bipartisanship in Congress and plans to bypass them if they continue to oppose efforts to enact near-universal health care.

This is the clearest indication yet that Democrats are gearing up to jam the Senate version of the bill through the House on a party line vote and use the reconciliation process in the Senate to make modifications. Pelosi's comment also suggests that President Obama's bipartisan health care summit scheduled for February 25th is going to be nothing more than a public relations exercise.

As if any more clarity is needed, Pelosi went on in her interview with Roll Call to state that the use of the filibuster in the Senate to prevent the passage of health care "isn't legitimate:"

“A constitutional majority is 51 votes,” Pelosi said in an interview Tuesday with Roll Call. “If in fact the Republicans are going to say nothing can be done except by 60 percent, then maybe we all should be elected with 60 percent. It isn't legitimate in terms of passing legislation.”